What is Steampunk?
Steampunk is the realm of historical science fiction and fantasy that explores
alternative futures from 19th century steam-driven technology,
including the worlds of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells.
Themes range from adventurers and air pirates to time travel,
often set in Victorian or Edwardian England.

What is a Steampunk Ball?

There are three predominant approaches to a Steampunk Ball:

• Re-creating a Victorian or Edwardian ball but modifying the original dances and music of those eras into alternative-future paths. How might
the dances and music have gone differently? Sometimes there
is an additional science and/or adventurer theme.

• Morphing the look and feel of Victorian England with futuristic aesthetics and gadgets of today, including computers,
ray guns and space travel. In this version the dancing can be vintage dances morphed with futuristic elements.

• Dressing in
Steampunk attire and doing whatever freestyle dancing one knows, to the participants' favorite
genre of music. i.e., if the ball is attended by a punk or goth crowd, that would be the music played.
The focus here is the costuming more than the dancing.

Elements of these three genres can also be mixed and blended.

The definition of a Steampunk Ball is debated. One might stage a reenactment of an actual historic ball that had a science
fiction theme (for instance, re-creating the 1877 ball that Jules Verne held in Paris for the publication
of his FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON) and call it Steampunk. Others would argue, "No, that is straightforward
historical science fiction, not Steampunk."
The genre is still evolving so there is no consensus yet.

The dances on this page mostly belong to the first category, alternative futures of a Victorian or Edwardian ball. However that shouldn't imply that I think that
this approach is better than the others. Each to their own.

THE DANCES

We have to be realistic. 19th century dances can require some skill and training. Furthermore
you don't want to turn a party into a workshop. People come to have fun. So steampunk dances should be fairly easy,
either taught at a pre-ball workshop, or very quickly taught at the ball. My rule of thumb is: if it's a dance
party (a ball), teaching should take no longer than five minutes.

The following dances were designed for our San Francisco Bay Area dancers who regularly go to the Gaskells balls,
PEERS balls, Friday Night Waltz and contras. Therefore they already know how to do a basic waltz and polka. If
your dancers don't, these can easily be taught at a pre-ball workshop. These dances don't require knowledge of the
more difficult 19th century steps such as redowa and mazurka.

Longer choreographies and stylistic details can be taught at an afternoon pre-ball workshop before the Steampunk Ball.

Below are five of sixteen Steampunk dances I created for the PEERS Legion
Fantastique Steampunk Ball, Friday Night Waltz and the
Stanford Dance Weekend.

These are only brief reminders of dances that I taught, not stand-alone descriptions.

EDWARDIAN SEQUENCE DANCES

Dancers at a ball often like short easy sequences that repeat. Fortunately there was a rage for these short sequence dances in England during the
reign of King Edward VII (1901 to 1910). They're easy to learn and fun to modify for steampunk. Here are three sequence dances,
followed by three other approaches for steampunk dances.

BOSTON TWO-STEP
By Tom Walton, 1908

Take Open Position facing LOD (line of direction), meaning you hold inside hands, lady on the right side.
The steps are described for the gent. The lady begins opposite.
Bars
2 Pas de Basque away from partner and toward partner.
For the man, leap in place onto L foot, cross R foot over L foot,
fall back onto L foot (QQS timing). Repeat opposite.
2 Walk forward three steps, L R L, then turn back to face against LOD, changing hands.
2 Pas de Basque away from partner and toward partner (man begins onto R).
2 Walk fwd against LOD three steps, then turn a quarter to face partner.

Instead of just holding inside hands, he throws his right arm straight forward with a fist, and she holds onto his
wrist with her left hand. Repeat opposite when you return to place. Waltz position can be the same, with her holding
his wrist as he puts his right arm around her. Or he can hold her with only his right arm, other hands free.

The Pas de Basques can be step-kicks and any other flamboyant solo stepping.

Any steps can be stamped, especially with boots.

Music:

To put a futuristic spin on a 19th century tune, I recommend Vanessa Mae's techno-edged Can, Can (You?)
available on iTunes and Amazon mp3s. I recommend slowing it down a bit.

2 Balance (polka) forward, M's L, bringing R hips almost adjacent; balance back M's R.
2 Release rearward hands (M's R, W's L). With 2 two-steps the W makes one complete
turn to the R under the fwd joined hands (M's L, W's R) while the M at the same
time takes a step to the side with L, closes R to L, and repeats L to side, close R.
4 Take Waltz Position and do four rotating Two-Steps traveling in LOD.

Steampunk style: Same as above.

Music: This works wonderfully to any of many techno versions of Edvard Grieg's 1876 Hall of the Mountain King,
fitting that musical phrasing.
One version suddenly drops to half-speed. That's when the air pirates brought back a zombie virus and everyone lurches around like zombies.
Then the tempo accelerates. (Did anyone say Steampunk dances can't be silly?)

STEAMPUNK WALTZ SUPERBE

This is an easy 3-part waltz sequence, as a contrast to the above 2-part two-steps.
This combines Waltz Superbe (Charles Gardner, 1909), St. George's Waltz (William Lamb, 1896)
and the classic Veleta (Arthur Morris, 1900), combining Victorian and Edwardian dances.

This one began with the music, Otherworldly Concerto from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.
It sounds like a spooky steam-powered organ, perfect for a steampunk ball, and happens to be a three-part
waltz, requiring a three-part dance.

2 Taking Waltz Position, do one full turn of a clockwise rotary waltz.
2 Do 2 side-draws toward LOD (he steps L side, closes R to L, repeats both).
4 Take Waltz Position and Waltz toward LOD, two full turns.

Steampunk style: Same as above.

TROIKA POLONAISE

This was also inspired by the music: the polonaise from Howl's Moving Castle, Miyazaki's steampunk anime film. Record of Lodoss War also works.
Formation: Line of threes, which is not the traditional Polonaise arrangement. Stand side-by-side taking hands 3, either M-W-M or W-M-W.

This alternative future includes the fact that there were no polka mixers in the 19th century
(and there are almost none today).

Formation: Couples taking hands in Single Circle, W at M's left side

Bar number
1-3 All take 3 smoothly bouncy polka steps to the R in closed circle, beginning with R ft.
4 Stamp R and L while turning to face left.
5-7 All take 3 polka steps to the L, beginning with the L ft. On 3rd polka, look at your
next partner, W to the LEFT of the M. He lets go of his R hand and approaches her
on the 3rd polka step.
8 Taking closed waltz position, W lightly stamps R and L while M does a R polka step.
M has come slightly in toward center of circle, facing out.

9-11 As a couple, do 3 smooth turning clockwise polka steps around the circle LOD.
12 M steps quietly 2 times in place, W does 4th polka step, shifting to Buzz Step Swing
Position while still rotating.
13-15 Buzz-Step Swing clockwise in place, beginning R foot, 6 times.
16 End with 2 stamps in place, man placing lady on his right side, taking hands in
Single Circle.
Repeat with your new partner.

Steampunk style: Loud, stomping and noisy.

Music:Wanderlust by Abney Park, a renowned steampunk band, or Wonderlust King by Gogol Bordello.

FREESTYLE STEAMPUNK WALTZ AND POLKA

If your dancers already know some waltz and polka variations, they may be given a Steampunk flavor by using the wrist handhold described above, a one-arm handhold,
the "muscleman" handhold where he brings their held hands to his left hip, the Regency Era "bondage" handhold where she holds both
of her hands behind her back and both of his arms are around her, holding her hands, or later era handholds and dance steps (brought back by time-travelers).
Try role reversal (adventuresses and women in the outlands are strong) and turning without even touching each other (as in Gypsy).

If your vision of Steampunk includes influences brought back from the future by time-travelers, note that dances get more intimate through time. Tracey said, "I'd also like to see Victorian dancing done in
close embrace, incorporating blues and tango moves. Steampunk makes Victorians overtly sexy. Maybe the dances should do the same."

A FEW STEAMPUNK DANCES NOT DESCRIBED ON THIS PAGE

• A steampunk polka line dance, to music by Abney Park.
• An advanced-skill Kerry Polka Set to industrial music, with a role-reversal chorus.
• Jolly Roger de Coverly, to a techno Celtic waltz.
• Punk Polka Paul Jones.
• Steampunkified Veleta Waltz Mixer to "The Devil's Feet" by Azure Ray.
• Steampunk parlor cotillion games, like Polka Dodge Ball (knocking out polka-ing couples), and a 19th century parlor game where women shoot at the backs of the gents they want
to dance with, with steampunked nerf guns.